First Reading

The Wisdom of Ben Sira (Sirach 6: 5-17)

A faithful friend is beyond price.

A kind mouth multiplies friends and appeases enemies,
and gracious lips prompt friendly greetings.
Let your acquaintances be many,
but one in a thousand your confidant.
When you gain a friend, first test him,
and be not too ready to trust him.
For one sort is a friend when it suits him,
but he will not be with you in time of distress.
Another is a friend who becomes an enemy,
and tells of the quarrel to your shame.
Another is a friend, a boon companion,
who will not be with you when sorrow comes.
When things go well, he is your other self,
and lords it over your servants;
But if you are brought low, he turns against you
and avoids meeting you.
Keep away from your enemies;
be on your guard with your friends.
A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter;
he who finds one finds a treasure.
A faithful friend is beyond price,
no sum can balance his worth.
A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy,
such as he who fears God finds;
For he who fears God behaves accordingly,
and his friend will be like himself.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 119:12, 16, 18, 27, 34, 35

Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.

Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes.

In your statutes I will delight;
I will not forget your words.

Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.

Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds.

Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart.

Lead me in the path of your commands,
for in it I delight.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

Your word, O Lord, is truth; consecrate us in the truth.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (Mark 10: 1-12)

What God has joined together, no human being must separate.

Jesus came into the district of Judea and across the Jordan.
Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom,
he again taught them.
The Pharisees approached him and asked,

“Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?”

They were testing him.
He said to them in reply,

“What did Moses command you?”

They replied,

“Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce
and dismiss her.”

But Jesus told them,

“Because of the hardness of your hearts
he wrote you this commandment.
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together,
no human being must separate.”

In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this.
He said to them,

“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another
commits adultery against her;
and if she divorces her husband and marries another,
she commits adultery.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.